Blaze
Avery Elizabeth West, better known as Blaze (born July 14, 1996) is one of the four main protagonists and heroes of ''Elementa. ''She is a 16-year old ex-gang member from New York City. Growing up as an orphan, she was taken under the wing of Payton Thomas and the rest of the Wildfire gang. She, along with the other three protagonists, are brought to Chicago, Illinois by Richard Powell, who was sent to collect them and train them in controlling their elements. Blaze makes up one part of the elements that balance the Earth, and is given the ability to control the element fire. She only discovers this after Richard takes her from her home to train her in using the power. With the impending doom surfacing over the planet, (and eventually, the entire universe) the four must fully understand and master their powers. Blaze, particularly, struggles with this fact, as many demons from her past in the city haunt her still, even after having escaped them, all while dealing with the separation of the family she had grown with throughout the entirety of her childhood. Personality Blaze is a very rebellious, bold, and strong young woman. She tends to be very stubborn and can act very selfish at times, despite the multiple instances throughout the book that showed complete selflessness, (i.e. the time she sacrificed herself to save her comrades.) She seems to struggle very much with the fact that she is an orphan, and has a tendency to be very dependent on those in the gang that took her in. She tends to be very outgoing and straightforward on the outside, and fronts a tough personality, but it seems to be a facade developed over the years to conceal the genuine compassion and sensitivity that she displays from time to time throughout the story. She harbors trust and abandonment issues due to the lack of a parental figure in her very early years, forced to live off the streets of New York at a very young age after being left by her uncle when he took off, leaving her behind. During that time of struggling, it's very likely she encountered forms of depression. After eventually being taken in to the Wildfire gang in New York City, she becomes very reliant on the members within it– more specifically, Payton Thomas. Due to the violent and rough nature of the gang life, she underwent her teen years brawling, gambling, drinking, smoking, breaking laws, and running from cops. Her rebellious side could have been heavily influenced by this fact. Though she appears tough and fearless, Blaze is a very deeply insecure and troubled person. Due to her problematic, harsh childhood, followed by even grimmer teen years, it is very possible that she developed multiple anxiety disorders, as well as temper issues due to her frequent explosions and bursts of anger. Her anger is usually triggered when something she finds immoral or wrong occurs, or when something happens that hurts the ones she loves. It is implied that she suffered from heavy depression, even while being an active member of the gang. She has a tendency to pick on herself and use self-deprication as a way to deal with the true hatred she has for herself. During an exchange with Ice, she reveals to her friend the loathing and detestation she harbors for herself, and tells her that she "doesn't feel worthy of anything good life has to give her." She immediately follows it up with, "It's not like life has ever really handed me anything good so far anyway." The constant discord throughout her life has given her a negative outlook on life in general. She is a particularly negative person, and is never usually apt to see the positive sides of life, much to Ice's dismay. With her usual arrogant, overconfident attitude, comes a very humorous and taunting personality. She is very flirtatious and teasing, and has a habit of irresistebly hitting on multiple women she finds attractive throughout the book, sometimes intentionally making Ice jealous, finding amusement in the effect she has over the younger girl. She likes taking risks and being daring, even when it puts her own life in danger. Despite being very risky and impulsive, Blaze is actually fairly smart, dedicating a lot of time to planning the success of their team. Although many actions tend to seem selfish or egotistical, Blaze demonstrates true selflessness many times, usually putting herself in immediate danger to help others or keep them out of harm's way. When others are hurt or upset, she usually will find a way to blame herself, constantly berating herself for being useless or not able to do anything to help. She is a truly compassionate and caring person, and finds herself caring about others more than she does herself. Blaze is a very sarcastic character, and most of her humor comes from sarcasm and a sharp attitude. A notable Blaze feature is the way she walks. She walks "as if she owns the dirt she walks on." She has a very exaggerated and animated way of maneuvering; for example, when she turns around, she swings her leg around and uses her body to turn. When walking, she takes very exuberant and confident steps, usually bouncing around in a lively fashion. She doesn't usually smile, and mentions taking pride in her smirk rather than her smile, which she wears most of the time. Appearance Blaze has a very stereotypical gang member look, almost always brandishing a leather jacket with a plain shirt underneath. Normally, the undershirts are of a gray shade. She rarely wears anything else, even after being brought to Chicago, but sometimes she will wear a plain black hoodie or zipup. On every shirt, jacket, etc., she wears a flame pin to represent her gang, which just so happens to be the element in which she controls. She always wears jeans with a black belt, and long black boots, the typical Wildfire attire. She occasionally dons a black beanie. Her casual attire, though it is very rarely worn, consists of a few different outfits. Normally covered by a sweatshirt or hoodie, many times Blaze will wear plain, baggy shirts, muscle shirts or tank tops, or regular t-shirts. Usually accompained with jeans or sweatpants, these attires are usually only worn when hanging around the home in Chicago. Blaze stands at about 5'2", and is teased as being "the midget" by Rocky and Gust when, interestingly, Ice is just under 5'1". She has short brown hair, more specifically in an pixie undercut hairstyle. She has light red-brown eyes and very light freckles acros her cheeks. There are multiple tattoos located on her body. On her left bicep, there is a line from a musical score. It is theorized that the notes drawn tie into one of the songs off of the book's soundtrack. Located on her left forearm, there are multiple smaller tattoos consisting of a tribal tattoo down her inner forearm, a skull, and an image of New York City across her inner wrist. She has the Wildfire symbol tattooed just beneath the nape of her neck. Along her right arm, she has a sleeve with a pattern of trees, fire, and birds, with the main illustration being a wolf on her forearm. It is revealed later on that she also has blue butterflies flying upwards on her side. Around her neck, she wears a necklace with a single Colt pistol bullet, with a large 'W' on it. It is presumed to mean "Wildfire", but is later on confirmed by Blaze after the revealing of her name, that it stands for her surname, West. She possesses a blue and black pocket knife on the right side of her belt. On her belt, she has the Wildfire insignia pin on the front. Background Blaze grew up on the streets of New York City. Found as an abandoned orphan on the street by a young woman, she was originally put into the care of her "uncle" Jeremy. Jeremy, though, was an apparent drug addict and alcoholic, and fled the city, leaving Blaze at age 7 to fend for herself. Secretly hiding out in Jeremy's old apartment, she would go out to the streets every day as a beggar, making only enough to supply herself with a bit of food for each day. At around age 9, Blaze